Carbon spokes on road wheels have been spreading rapidly — largely driven by Chinese manufacturers — while the major Western brands have, until now, taken a cautious stance.
That stance has begun to shift, and in 2025 ROVAL has finally committed to carbon spokes across three new models: the RAPIDE CLX III, the RAPIDE SPRINT CLX (hereafter SPRINT CLX), and the ALPINIST CLX III. Equally noteworthy is their new rim configuration — the RAPIDE CLX III pairs a 51mm front with a 48mm rear, while the SPRINT CLX uses a 63mm front and 58mm rear. How does this asymmetric design, which breaks from conventional wisdom, work in concert with carbon spokes?
In this first part, we dig into how the design philosophy behind the RAPIDE CLX III and SPRINT CLX translates into actual ride feel. The follow-up will round out the picture with a test of the ALPINIST CLX III, ultimately serving as a selection guide tailored to how — and where — you ride.
Reviewer
 | Ryuji (@ryuji_ride) |
text & photo / Ryuji (＠ryuji_ride)
edit / Tats (＠tats_lovecyclist)
*The RAPIDE CLX III in this review was supplied by Specialized Japan; the other models were loaned for an extended period of real-world testing.
Contents
The Evolution of the RAPIDE CLX Series
ROVAL unveiled the original RAPIDE CLX in 2020. From the outset it earned strong reviews and gained a broad following as a well-balanced aero wheel. The first-generation rim heights were 51mm front and 60mm rear — an asymmetric profile engineered to reconcile handling stability with high-speed cruising. The front rim featured a 35mm external width, giving it real composure in crosswinds. That front rim shape — the surface that meets the wind — has remained unchanged from the original through to the CLX III.
The Gen II in 2022 added tubeless compatibility, but on paper it amounted to little more than a minor update. Then in 2024 came the limited RAPIDE CLX II Team, shedding 130g from the base model. In hindsight, that release looks like a testing ground for the technological breakthroughs about to arrive in the next generation.
And in 2025, Gen III lands. The new RAPIDE CLX III and SPRINT CLX are defined by the adoption of carbon spokes and a rethought rim configuration. Front-high rim profiles, a newly engineered spoke system, uncompromising weight reduction — there’s no shortage of technical talking points.
A long-awaited third generation, fully reimagined
What’s the Intent Behind the New Design?
← SPRINT CLX | RAPIDE CLX III →
Spec Comparison
| RAPIDE CLX III | SPRINT CLX | |
| Rim Depth | F: 51mm / R: 48mm | F: 63mm / R: 58mm |
| Weight (set) | 1,305g | 1,395g |
| Internal Rim Width | 21mm | 21mm |
| External Rim Width (max) | F: 35mm / R: 31.3mm | F: 35mm / R: 34.4mm |
| Spokes | Arris carbon | |
| Hubs | DT Swiss 180 EXP 36T | |
| Price (tax incl.) | Front ¥193,600 / Rear ¥290,400 | |
The 90g gap between the two models comes almost entirely from the rim itself. Either way, both sit firmly in the lightweight camp of modern disc-brake wheels — impressive given their rim depths.
The price hike over the previous generation is also hard to miss, and it’s tough to chalk this up purely to global inflation. It likely reflects ROVAL’s ongoing R&D investment in next-generation wheel technology — the cost of staying at the front of the industry.
Buying the wheels on their own gets you a wheel bag, a freehub body (rear wheel only, with both SHIMANO HG and SRAM XDR included), and spare Arris carbon spokes. That level of accessory generosity feels appropriate for a wheelset north of ¥480,000 — and perhaps a quiet acknowledgment from the brand of what that price demands.
The Tech That Matters
Why a 21mm internal rim width, against the trend?
With 23mm and 25mm internal widths becoming the norm, why has ROVAL now opted for 21mm?
The official documentation walks through the development process in detail: data was gathered repeatedly at their in-house wind tunnel facility, and decisions were made based on that analysis. Using CT scan technology to examine various combinations of rim width and tire width, and measuring rolling resistance via drum testing, they concluded that a 21mm internal-width rim paired with a 28mm tire delivered the best performance.
What did ROVAL want from carbon spokes?
Strength is 20% higher than steel aero spokes, and each spoke weighs just 1.9g — trimming about 96.6g across the whole system.
What’s interesting is that ROVAL specifically wanted “suppleness” from these spokes. Rather than chasing stiffness for its own sake, they prioritized the overall balance of speed, comfort, and control.
Flatstop Bead Hook
The new rims feature a wider bead hook than the previous generation. The result: 39% more resistance to the impact energy of a pinch flat scenario.
And ROVAL’s test standards go well beyond UCI requirements. Hitting a 5cm square edge at 32km/h generates roughly 30 joules of impact energy — ROVAL tests from 40 joules up to 70 joules, and only wheels that pass make it to production.
A Lighter Hub
The hubs are DT Swiss 180 EXP 36T, paired with SINC ceramic bearings — a proven combination, so reliability is a given.
The 36T ratchet engages every 10 degrees, striking a balance between the direct feel of every pedal stroke and a forgiving feel underfoot.
The hub shell in this third generation carries over the redesigned low-flange spec introduced with the II Team. Compared to the previous hub, the shell has been radically slimmed down — shaving weight without compromising reliability.
Hand-built finishing
Every wheel in this generation is built entirely by hand. Tensioning spokes is a craft that demands both experience and intuition, and carbon spokes call for an even finer touch than their metal counterparts. The goal is to suppress unit-to-unit variation and hold quality to a uniformly high standard.
RAPIDE CLX III vs SPRINT CLX: Three Riders on the Road
When choosing wheels, a rider’s build is impossible to ignore. Even at the same weight or rim depth, a featherweight rider and a powerful, larger rider will feel the benefits very differently. For this test, we built the review around that premise, setting up three distinct rider profiles at 48 kg, 60 kg and 68 kg. Our hope is that approaching the wheels from three body types makes the verdict feel personally relevant to readers who share a similar build.
Test Riders
 | Ryuji (168cm / 60kg): 17 years on sportbikes. Raced competitively as a student, then worked as a cycling magazine editor and at a cycling apparel brand — giving him deep insight into the industry. His riding spans racing to long-distance touring, and his demands on a wheelset are correspondingly broad. Has five years of saddle time on the original RAPIDE CLX. 【Test Bike】Specialized S-WORKS Tarmac SL8, Cannondale Super X |
 | Ozzy (166cm / 48kg): A current ROVAL RAPIDE CLX III owner. 16 years on sportbikes. Raised by cyclist parents, she joined a cycling club in her student days and toured across Japan. Today she owns multiple bikes including a Wilier Filante SL and an Independent Fabrication, swapping between them by purpose. Highly sensitive to acceleration and response — exactly the rider to judge what a lightweight wheelset is really worth. 【Test Bike】Wilier Filante SL |
 | Yuta (180cm / 68kg): A current ROVAL RAPIDE CLX50 owner. Has been around bikes for as long as he can remember, taking up MTB and trials competition in junior high. He moved to road racing about ten years ago and now competes at the sharp end of Japan’s domestic scene — earning a UCI World Championships qualifying slot at Niseko Classic. With deep experience in high-power-output riding, he is the rider best placed to call wheel performance in the upper speed ranges. 【Test Bike】Canyon Aeroad CF SLX |
Test Conditions
Weather: 8–14°C, cloudy with occasional sun, wind speed 6 m/s
Tyres: SPECIALIZED TURBO COTTON 28C
① Acceleration (Low Speed)
Both wheelsets share a sharp initial bite and an eagerness to carry speed from low-velocity rollouts.
RAPIDE CLX III, thanks to its light rim and carbon spokes, delivers that “easy to throw the bike around” feel and an all-round nimbleness across every rider profile, regardless of build.
SPRINT CLX, by contrast, leans toward stiffness. Lighter and mid-weight riders may feel a touch of resistance when dancing on the pedals, but stamp hard and the wheel rewards you with a direct surge of forward drive that out-pulls the RAPIDE.
| RAPIDE CLX III | SPRINT CLX | |
| Ryuji 60kg | A characteristic carbon-spoke responsiveness in the low-speed range. The light outer rim makes the wheel agile and easy to rock side to side, so even out-of-the-saddle accelerations from a crawl feel quick and smooth. | Seated accelerations build naturally and lightly. When dancing, you sense the rim wanting to stand back up, so it doesn’t have the same easy sway as the RAPIDE CLX III — but it still clears the bar. |
| Ozzy 48kg | The lightness is always there. Seated or standing, acceleration goes exactly where you want it. Even a light push and the wheel slips forward effortlessly. | You particularly feel the stiffness in the rear wheel, which makes out-of-the-saddle accelerations genuinely fun. Even at this deep rim height it stays light, and moves more freely than the depth would suggest. |
| Yuta 68kg | A lightness you feel the instant you press the pedals. The balance between rotational inertia and stiffness is well judged, and the snap of acceleration in the 300W–600W range really stands out. | Not as effortless as the CLX III, but when you’re putting down 800W or more, it actually accelerates harder than the RAPIDE CLX III. At lower power outputs there’s a slight sense of weight and stiffness. |
② Acceleration (High Speed)
What both wheels share at high speeds is a sharp responsiveness that converts every pedal stroke directly into forward drive. Once you’re already up to speed, they still have another gear of acceleration left to give.
The RAPIDE CLX III sustains a light, fluid acceleration across all speed ranges without taxing the legs, while the SPRINT CLX carries a noticeably higher stiffness and responds linearly to high-power inputs.
That difference in stiffness means lightweight and mid-weight riders are more likely to feel the SPRINT “chew through their legs,” whereas heavier, more powerful riders can fully exploit that rigidity as headroom — a wheel that won’t bottom out even under 800W surges.
| RAPIDE CLX III | SPRINT CLX | |
| Ryuji 60kg | The instant you push, it accelerates, and the light, snappy feel from lower speeds carries through to the high-speed range. | Compared to the RAPIDE CLX III, it feels stiffer, and sharp accelerations are genuinely fun. But keep pushing and your legs start to pay the price. |
| Ozzy 48kg | Responsive even at high speed, with a sharp “snap” to its acceleration — though at my weight, I start having to put in noticeably more power past around 45km/h. | Compared to the RAPIDE CLX III it feels stiffer, and high-power acceleration is seriously satisfying — but riding it for long stretches demands real leg strength. |
| Yuta 68kg | I tried accelerating from around 40km/h at roughly 600W, and the stiffness was high enough to convert that power efficiently without punishing the legs. Given how light the wheel is, I was worried about high-speed acceleration, but it held up perfectly even as the speed climbed. | The speed at which acceleration plateaus is higher than on the CLX III, leaving room to keep applying more power. Push it up to 700–800W and it really stretches its legs. |
③ High-Speed Cruising
Both wheels combine excellent aerodynamics with a well-judged moment of inertia, so speed bleeds away remarkably little at the top end.
Within that, the RAPIDE CLX III is the all-rounder — supple enough that riders of any size can settle into a rhythm, and forgiving enough to preserve the legs over long high-speed efforts.
The SPRINT CLX, by contrast, shows an overwhelming sense of forward roll above 40km/h, but holding that speed solo demands proportionally more power the lighter you are. For powerful, heavier riders, it delivers cruising capability that surpasses even the RAPIDE CLX III.
| RAPIDE CLX III | SPRINT CLX | |
| Ryuji 60kg | The character shifts from acceleration mode — when you settle into high speed, there’s a suppleness you wouldn’t expect from a carbon-spoked wheel, in the best possible way, and it lets you save your legs. | The rim feels like it just keeps rolling forward on its own. Into a 2m/s headwind at my weight, I could hold around 40km/h on just 200W. Sustaining speeds above 40km/h is clearly this wheel’s home territory. |
| Ozzy 48kg | Very little loss of speed in crosswinds or on gradient changes. It’s not as flexy as a metal-spoked wheel, but there’s just enough give to keep a clean rhythm at high speed. | At my weight, holding the front solo at a steady pace took meaningful power. Sitting in a group or on a wheel, though, I could save a lot of energy. |
| Yuta 68kg | The rim weight delivers just the right amount of inertia, which helps hold speed. Stiffness is more than adequate, and you can feel the aero working at high speed too. | Cruising above 40–45km/h is where it pulls ahead of other wheels. Even compared to the CLX III, holding speed feels a touch easier. |
④ Climbing
On climbs, the two wheels reveal a clear gap.
All three of us agreed the RAPIDE CLX III climbs lighter than its spec sheet suggests, holding rhythm through gradient changes and out-of-the-saddle efforts with all-round composure.
The SPRINT CLX, on the other hand, feels heavier when you throw the bike side to side on steep pitches due to its higher stiffness — it’s better suited to a seated, steady-tempo climbing style.
| RAPIDE CLX III | SPRINT CLX | |
| Ryuji 60kg | On the climbs, it feels even lighter than the 1,305g number suggests. Spinning along seated, it delivers climbing performance on par with dedicated lightweight climbing wheels. | On gradients over 7%, throwing the bike around feels a touch heavy, but seated, it climbs at a perfectly respectable level. |
| Ozzy 48kg | It can’t quite match dedicated lightweight climbing wheels, but on shallow gradients where aero matters, it’s actually faster than them. | Throw the bike around too much out of the saddle and your rhythm collapses — it starts to feel heavy. It’s not at its best on gradients over 10%, but on short climbs and shallow gradients, if you’ve got the power to exploit its stiffness, it’s surprisingly fast. |
| Yuta 68kg | A wheel that climbs. For high-speed hill climb races, this beats reaching for a mediocre climbing wheel. Even when the gradient keeps shifting, it climbs effortlessly. | Plenty light, but compared to the CLX III you feel the extra weight and stiffness. Not suited to a light, dancing climbing style. Good for grinding out shallow climbs in the saddle at a steady tempo. |
⑤ Handling
What both wheels share is excellent crosswind resistance that belies their deep rim profile, plus an easy-to-handle character that combines quickness at low speeds with straight-line stability at high speeds. Handling barely varies between rider sizes — every one of us could keep the bike confidently under control in strong winds and through deep lean angles.
| RAPIDE CLX III | SPRINT CLX | |
| Ryuji 60kg | The wheel’s lightness combined with the carbon spokes gives the handling a touch of quickness, but crosswind influence is minimal. Even with the bike leaned hard into a corner, it responds honestly to inputs. | The quickness characteristic of carbon spokes feels milder here than on the RAPIDE CLX III. Its way of shrugging off crosswinds doesn’t quite match the RAPIDE CLX III, but for this rim depth it’s at a very high level. |
| Ozzy 48kg | Little to fear from crosswinds or wind coming from a forward angle. There’s a slight flickery feel — probably from the carbon spokes — but it doesn’t compromise cornering, and the wheel stays stable. | The deeper front rim gives it a planted look, but thanks to its low weight and resistance to crosswinds, the handling is utterly honest. |
| Yuta 68kg | Cuts in quickly at low speeds, and as you build pace it settles into the straight-line stability you’d expect from a 50mm wheel. Crosswind resistance is strong — even in stiff winds the bars don’t get pushed around. | At low speeds it’s just as quick as the CLX III. As speed climbs, stability builds with it. Crosswind resistance is also outstanding, so there’s little anxiety in the wind. |
⑥ Verdict
You can guess from the specs alone that the RAPIDE CLX III leans all-round while the SPRINT CLX leans toward outright speed. But once you actually turn the pedals, that direction comes through to the rider far more vividly and unmistakably than any spec sheet could convey.
What our three riders described were the kinds of performance differences that don’t show up in numbers — and those differences, we felt, will weigh heavily on a rider’s choice.
RAPIDE CLX III
An all-rounder that holds onto high-speed performance while running dramatically lighter. The lightness you feel out on the road exceeds what the 1,305g figure implies, delivering a quickness on a par with dedicated climbing wheels.
・You want to ride fast, effortlessly, in any situation
・You need climbing and flat-road performance in equal measure
・You value the balance between lightness and stability
・You take on climbs that are either shallow or ridden at high speeds
| Ryuji 60kg | It matches my riding style perfectly, and helps me ride fast and effortlessly in every scenario. Lightness, speed, and ease of handling all dialed to a high level. |
| Ozzy 48kg | Easy to use no matter the application or rider. Whether it’s a relaxed cycling, training, or racing, it doesn’t pick its rider or purpose. |
| Yuta 68kg | A wheel that fits a rouleur like me to a tee. Even in long-distance races, it handles pace changes and seems to save my legs to the finish. I especially loved its resistance to crosswinds. |
SPRINT CLX
A 60mm-class wheel that hits the 1300g range with real stiffness. The fusion of high-speed performance and lightness opens up a new dimension. The heavier the rider, or the higher the power output, the more its advantages come to the surface.
・Riders who consistently prioritize high-speed riding
・Riders whose top priority is maintaining speed on the flats
・Riders focused on short races or time trials
・Riders over 65kg, or those putting out high power
・Riders aiming to win bunch sprints
・Riders whose rides center on the flats rather than climbing
| Ryuji 60kg | I’d want to use it for short races and time trials. Or rides up to 100km that are mainly flat and sustained around 35km/h — that’s where it earns its place. |
| Ozzy 48kg | I can’t really tap into the stiffness of this wheel with my riding. Better suited to racers or riders who love going fast. |
| Yuta 68kg | Not as heavy or as stiff as its imposing look suggests. Acceleration under high power and high-speed cruising feel genuinely good. Built for short races, time trials, and bunch sprints. |
A true generational shift.
Honestly, the leap from the original CLX to the second generation felt closer to a minor update. But this third generation isn’t a refinement or a spin-off — it feels like a different machine, built to deliver a true generational shift.
In part two, we’ll examine all three models including the ALPINIST CLX III. Where ROVAL is heading, and which of these wheels truly rides alongside us — both should come into sharper focus.
Read part two here
See all Roval wheels (Specialized official site)
Find a shop where you can test ride Roval wheels
text & photo / Ryuji（＠ryuji_ride）
edit / Tats（＠tats_lovecyclist）
